{"id":59559,"date":"2016-10-09T14:42:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-09T21:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=59559"},"modified":"2016-10-09T14:42:47","modified_gmt":"2016-10-09T21:42:47","slug":"federalism-implications-of-international-experiences-and-research-findings-for-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/10\/09\/federalism-implications-of-international-experiences-and-research-findings-for-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Federalism: Implications of international experiences and research findings for Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

by M.L.WICKRAMASINGHE\u00a0Courtesy The Island<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

A dialogue on unitary and federal systems of government has already begun albeit among a woefully inadequate number of citizens. This article is an attempt at contributing to an informed dialogue on federalism by presenting the implications of international experiences and research findings on federalism for Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

It would be pertinent to begin by reviewing the pattern of physical spread of the two systems, among the world\u2019s total of 195 sovereign countries. There are 169 (83.7%) unitary countries to 26 federated countries. (source: Wikipedia\/ UN Statistical Division). In Asia 39 countries are unitary while only 06 countries (13%) are federal.<\/p>\n

The population in federal countries is around 40 % and is due to the theoretical principle that federal systems are best for large countries. For example, of the 10 largest countries in the world, seven are federal.<\/p>\n

In size, Sri Lanka is ranked as the 120th country out of 195. Of the 75 countries that are smaller than Sri Lanka, 68, or 90 % of countries are unitary. Of the 26 federal countries in the world, 85% are larger than Sri Lanka. Very many small countries follow the unitary model. Why should Sri Lanka choose to stray away?<\/p>\n

Proponents of federalism, guided by western concepts, believe that countries with multiple ethnicities should, as a rule of the thumb, select federalism. But framers need to be more discerning; ask questions before committing to a model. Does federalism match with local reality, and ground situation in the country? Does it match with the existing socio-cultural, political, demographic, and geo-political circumstances? What are previous national experiences? What has international research shown, both on mainstream federalism, and ethno-federalism?<\/p>\n

The oft made suggestion is that “if federalism is good enough for USA and India, why not for Sri Lanka?” We may begin by reflecting on the applicability of these to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

This, very briefly, is how the USA constitution came into being. Around 1770s, the 13 separate colonies in America fighting the British for independence agreed to form a Union. However, after independence they realized that the central government lacked adequate executive authority to enforce legislation, raise revenue, and provide defense to the Union. The first agreement on the Confederation was a failure.<\/p>\n

If the Union were to survive a new Constitution had to be developed. It was a kind of tight rope walk for the framers who had to balance the power of states already in existence with the power and authority needed by a central government to be effective as a Country in the emerging geo-political situation. This is why the Constitution of the USA is popularly called a \u2018bringing- together\u2019 Constitution. An independent Judiciary, Bill of Rights, and the separation of powers principle ensured that fundamental rights of citizens would be protected and abuse of government powers precluded.<\/p>\n

As some Lankans think, the USA Constitution did not change a unitary country to a federal country. It sought to protect the integrity of the new Country built out of 13 disparate independently functioning states by judiciously strengthening the central government. Federalism was a pre-constitutional reality. But neither ethnicity nor language was the basis for demarcating states. It was pure and simple territorial federalism.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka certainly can learn from the constitution-making process in America. The key learning point is that the designing of the USA Constitution was mainly based on a critical analysis and a rational understanding of contextual issues, the locality-specific situation, historical developments, and the emerging geo-political situation facing the fledgling country. The concept of sovereignty of the people, the rights of the individual, separation of powers, and the stability of the Country were some overarching principles.<\/p>\n

The lesson for Sri Lanka from USA, is not to import federalism. But to undertake a critical analysis and a rational understanding of the contextual situation and locality-specific issues facing the country, including an understanding of the implication of the size of the country, the continued need to forge amity among all communities, the geo-political implications, national security, and the need to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights of all citizens without discrimination, and the integrity of the State of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from India? The Indian Constitution is called a \u2018holding together\u2019 Constitution.<\/p>\n

There are 122 major languages and 1,599 other languages in use in India (2011 Census). Of the above, 22 are recognized as official languages. Hindi, the mother tongue of the largest number (41 %) of Indian people, is the main language in nine states (out of a total of 29 states). Bengali, the main language of two states is the second most widely (8%) spoken language. Telegu is the main language in two states. The other states have one main language each. With such a mosaic of heterogeneous population and far flung lands, the ground reality was to adopt federalism. The British colonial government advocated a federation in 1935, which failed to be activated. (Please also note that the British colonial government did not advocate federalism for Sri Lanka).<\/p>\n

It is also revealing that during the early stages of framing of the Indian constitution, Pandit Nehru supported territorial federalism, but not ethnic or linguistic federalism.<\/p>\n

Dr. S.D. Muni\u2019s writing titled \u2018Ethnic conflict, federalism, and democracy in India\u2019 published in United Nations University web page confirms that Dr. Ambedkar was also of same opinion : ” \u2026. Though the country and the people may be divided into different states for convenience of administration, the country is one integral whole, its people a single people living under a single imperium derived from a single source…” .<\/p>\n

Later on, however, language based states were accepted. Nonetheless, the central government\u2019s absolute power to annul any separatist push was maintained and further enhanced through new Acts as late as the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n

Many wrote about the success of Indian federalism. But only a few attempted to identify causes for such success (and some setbacks). One such illuminating analysis was undertaken by Professor Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences at Brown University, USA. In the 2013 article \u2018How Has Indian Federalism Done?\u2019 published in \u2018Studies in Indian Politics\u2019 Journal, Varshney identifies the vital factor for the success of Indian federalism: ” A major reason for the success of Indian federalism, if not the only one, has to do with the country\u2019s ethnic configuration. Indian identities tend to crosscut, instead of cumulating”.<\/p>\n

Varshney presents two concepts to describe the identity formation of the ethnic or linguistic majority group in the states. The first way is called \u2018crosscutting cleavage\u2019, and the second way is called \u2018cumulating cleavage.\u2019<\/p>\n

When the majority ethnic group of the area is cross-cut considerably by other socio-cultural groups, such as those speaking a different language, belonging to a different religion or a tribe, that phenomenon is called a cross cutting cleavage. Consequently, the majority ethnic group would not be able to monopolize public opinion formation in that area. This reduces pathways for intense ethnic identity formation around that majority ethnic group. The absence of such a monolithic ethno-political identity prevents extremist politicians from mobilizing them for political brinkmanship against the centre. Varshney explains that intra-state issues are turned into a “more enduring form of politics than a confrontation with the Centre”.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of Indian states are crosscutting cleavage states, and thus are immunized against separatism.<\/p>\n

However, in a cumulating cleavage situation, the majority language group almost make-up the total population of the administrative unit; perchance if other seemingly different smaller groups are present they would invariably hold similar beliefs as that of the majority language group. There is nothing inherently wrong with such natural formations. But an opportunity is certainly presented to extremist ethnic politicians to exploit the situation and build up an intense ethno-political identity in the administrative unit and channel it against the central government.<\/p>\n

India is proof of the empirical truth of this theory. Professor Varshney indicates that the separatist challenges in India exclusively occurred\/ occurs in the few states where ethnic cleavages tend to cumulate. These are Jammu and Kashmir, and Northeastern tribal states such as Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland , Tripura and the Punjab.<\/p>\n

However, the might of the Indian central government, its economic strength, and the strongly \u2018pro-India\u2019 Indian diaspora spread throughout the world acts as a strong and pre-emptive strike force against separatist tendencies.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka however presents a completely different picture on both counts. Professor Varshney discussing Sri Lanka in the above mentioned article writes:”Sri Lanka is a classic case of cumulative cleavages. Tamils are not only religiously distinct from the Sinhalese, but also linguistically and racially”.<\/p>\n

The lesson from India for Sri Lanka is very clear. Any federal approach would clearly subject Sri Lanka to high risks.<\/p>\n

In recent times many researchers have joined in studying ethno federalism. One such researcher, Henry Hale of America, as Professor Ashutosh, has attempted to examine the underlying causes in regard to federal processes. He presents a concept called \u2018core ethnic region\u2019 and identifies it as the biggest risk factor for state collapse in ethno- federal countries. (Ref:- H.E.Hale, \u2018Divided We Stand: Institutional Sources of Ethno-Federal State Survival and Collapse\u2019, in \u2018World Politics Journal\u2019, 2004).<\/p>\n

Hale defines a core ethnic region as “a single ethnic federal region that enjoys dramatic superiority in population”. As per this definition, if the northern province of Sri Lanka is accorded federal characteristics constitutionally, (irrespective of the given terminology) it becomes a core ethnic region.<\/p>\n

Hale\u2019s analysis shows that all ethno-federal countries that ultimately collapsed had at least one core ethnic region within it. These were Czechoslovakia, Mali Federation, Nigeria First Republic, Pakistan, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Yugoslavia, and Serbia-Montenegro (the first federation).<\/p>\n

Hale\u2019s research indicates that in all these situations the “core ethnic regions are centrally involved in the collapses, producing dangerous situations of dual power \u2026. that are frequently at the heart of state breakdown”, because core ethnic regions by its nature and power tend to retard the “capacity of the central government to credibly commit to the security” of core ethnic regions. This process according to Hale is set in motion by ethnic card playing politicians.<\/p>\n

The above analysis clearly demonstrate that if federalism is invoked, Sri Lanka would be subjected to the presence of two high-risk disintegrative phenomena namely (i) cumulating ethnic cleavages and (ii) core ethnic regions.<\/p>\n

It is proposed that policy-makers and framers take these concepts and the negative implications into view in deciding on the Constitution.<\/p>\n

(The writer is an ex-journalist, communication researcher, and retired officer of the international civil service.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by M.L.WICKRAMASINGHE\u00a0Courtesy The Island A dialogue on unitary and federal systems of government has already begun albeit among a woefully inadequate number of citizens. This article is an attempt at contributing to an informed dialogue on federalism by presenting the implications of international experiences and research findings on federalism for Sri Lanka. It would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-constitution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}